Closet-door latch



March 18, 1930. w. R. SCHLAGE 1,751,102

CLQSET DOOR LATCH Filed March 8, 1926 m1111111 'e' j lnoentor Fmornegs l Patented Mar. 18, 1930 UNITED STATES APATENT OFFICE WALTER IR'. SCHLAGE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO SCHLAGE LOCK COMPANY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA CLOSET-DOOR LATCH Application mea Maren s, 1926. serial No. 93,081.

This invention relates to door latches such as illustrated in my copending application entitled Door lock, filed May 8th, 1923, Serial Number 656,335,and especially to an improvement on the structure therein vdescribed whereby locks or latches of that character may be materially simplified and adapted for closet doors.

Door latches such as ordinarily installed in clothes closets whether it be in a hotel, apartment house or a dwelling, are usually identical to the latches installed in bedrooms, hallways, bathrooms, toilets, etc. Thus the closet door latches are usually finished in the same manner as the remaining latches, the

same latch mechanism is employed, exterior and Vinterior knobs are used, etc. A little thought on this subject should soon convince the average person that a closet door latch does not require ,more than one knob, to-wit, the exterior knob. The inside knob is a useless appendage, it adds to the cost of the latch and it is normally hidden within the closet, and also, it does not add to generalv appearances. It is seldom required and very often occupies useful space, for instance, in closets that are comparatively shallow.

The object of the present invention is lto provide a latch which is particularly adapted for closet doors and which is so constructed that the usual 'inside knob may be removed, to provide a substitute for the inside knob which may be cheaply and readily applied and which is used in emergency cases only, and further, to provide a structure which will permit a latch of this character to be fitted to doors of varying thickness.

To fully describe the general latch struc- 'ture and particularly the substituted inner knob forming the subject matter of the present application reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view partlyjbroken away showing the general latch structure.

Fig. 2 is a perspective View partly broken v away showing the inner clamping plate and the inner spindles. I

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the substituted inner knob.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section taken on line IV-IV, Fig. 1v. f

Fig. 5 is a cross-.section taken on line V-V, Fig. 1.

lThe general latch structure shown in the drawings accompanying this application is fully disclosed and described in my copending application already referred to, but a brief description thereof is nevertheless thought necessary in order that the substituted inner knob, with the connected mechanism which forms the subject matter of the present applicatiommay be fully understood.

The general latch structure illustrated consists of a late-hing unit generally indicated at A and a latch actuating unit generally indicated at B, see Fig. 1. The unit B is contained in a cup-shaped housing 2 and the unit A is contained in a cylindrically shaped elongated housing 3. The unit A contains a latch or plunger 4 to which is attached a retractor bar or plate 5, see Fig. 5. The end of this plate is provided with lugs 6 and these are engaged by a pair of fingers 7 which form a part of aretractor 8. The retractor is mounted within the cup-shaped housing 2 and is guided therein by a retractor guide 9. In other words the housing 2 contains a retractor guide and a retractor, and means are employed for imparting a reciprocal movement to the retractor so that the fingers 7 carriedv thereby may impart a reciprocal movement to the latching plate 5 and the latch 4, attached thereto. The reciprocal movement is imparted to the retractor by means of a pair of spindle members which are substantially identical in construction. These spindles will hereinafter be referred to as the inner and outer spindle sections as respectively in dicated at 10 and 11. The spindle 11, or, in other words, the outer spindle, is cylindrically shaped in cross-section and elongated as shown in Fig. 4. It is journalled at its inner `.end within the lock housing 2 as indicated at 12 and it is'journalled at its outer end in a sleeve 13 forming an extension of an escutcheon plate 14. A knob 15 is secured on the outer end of the spindle and a retractor lug 16 is formed on the inner end of the spindle. The spindle 10, or in other words, the inner spindle is also cylindrically shaped in cross-section, but it is comparatively short in length, see Figs. 1 and 4. It is slotted from end to end as indicated at 17, it is journalled as at 18 in the end 19 of the lock housing 2 and it is provided with a retractor lug 20 which is identical to the retractor lug 16 on the outer spindle. The retractor lugs whether it be on one spindle or the other engage a cross plate 21 carried by the retractor 8 and an endwise or reciprocal movement is imparted to the retractor when such engagement is made. The retractor is moved in one direction to retract the plate 5 and the latch 4 when either spindle is rotated as such rotation will cause the lugs 16 or 20 to engage the plate 19 of the retractor, and the retractor is automatically returned to normal position by' means of a spring 22. A spring is also mounted within the housing 3 of the latch unit which returns the bolt 4 to projected position, but this spring is not illustrated.

' Knob 15 secured on spindle 11 is the knob by which the latch is normally operated. It is mounted on the exterior side of the closet door and by merely grasping and rotating the same the latch is retracted and the door may be opened. A person will seldom close the closet door when entering the same, in fact, many closets are often so shallow that a person cannot very readily enter, and as this is the case, it should be rather apparent that an inside knob, is, in most instances, a superfluous and unnecessary attachment. It however happens, particularly in dwelll ings,'that certain clothes closets are made fairly spacious and in some instances they are suiiiciently large to permina person to enter. There is no particular reason, even in such instances for closing the closet door from the inside of the closet, but it might happen that the door will become accidentally closed by a draft or a child might playfullyclose the door. In either instance it would be necessary to open the door from the inside and an emergency knob is accordingly provided.

' The knob consists of a flat shallow cap 25 provided with a pair of radially extending lugs 25a. This knob is a metal stamping and is frictionally or otherwise secured on the outer end of a third short spindle 26. The cap 25 or emergency knob occupies comparan tively little space as it projects but slightly beyond the inner escutcheon plate 27 (see Fig. 4) hereinafter to be referred to. The

escutcheon plate 27 is obviously mounted on the yinside of the closet door and it serves three functions in the' present instance, first that of a clamping plate to secure the latch mechanism in general with relation to the door, secondly, that of a bearing member for the spindle 26 and thirdly, that of an escutchcon plate. The function of the clamping plate will irst be described. The latch here illustrated is inserted in the door by boring two holes at right angles to each other, one hole through the face of the door which is sufficiently large to receive the cup-shaped lock housing 2 and a second hole through the edge of the door which is of proper diameter to receive the latch housing 3. When the holes have been bored it is first necessary to insert the latch housing 3 and then to insert the housing 2. It is then necessary to apply the escutcheon plate 27 and to fasten the latch by passing a pair of screws therethrough. Ordinary machine screws are employed as indicated at 30, see Fig. 3. These screws pass through perforations in the escutcheon plate such as shown at 31 and they engage threaded openings in the end of the retractor guide such as indicated at 33. The housing 2 1s thus secured to the door without passing any screws into the woodwork, and it further will be noted that doors of different thickness can be fitted as the screws 30 are of suflcient length to take care of varying thicknesses.

The second function of the escutcheon plate is that of a journal member for the third spindle indicated at 26. This spindle consists of a short sleeve section as shown in Fig. 2, which is provided on its inner end with an annular flange 26a and a lug or key member The inner diameter of the flange 26a is equal to the exterior diameter of the short s indle section 10, and the escutcheon plate 2g, together with the spindle member 26, may be thus slipped over the short spindle sectlon 10. The lug or key member 26 will in that instance enter the keyway on the short spindle, and will thereby form an interlock between the spindles 10 and 26, so that when the auxiliary knob 25 is turned the two short spindle members will be turned in unison:

The spindle member 26 is journalled 1n an -inturn annular iiangc 34 formed centrally o1' the escutcheon plate, and it is in fact, entirely supported by the escutcheon plate and secured against endwise movement therein, the annular flange 26a securing the spindle member 26 against endwise movement in one direction, and the auxiliary knob 25, Vwhich is secured to the outside end of the spindle sections, against movement in the other direction and itc third function, as already stated, is that of forming an escutcheon plate.

An important feature of the'present invention is the complete journaling of the spindle 26 in the escutcheon plate as this' adds to the possibility of fitting locks of this character ilo distance the escutcheon plate may be moved' inwardly depends upon the length of the spindle 27, as the inner spindle l passes through the inner opening of the annular flange 26a and telescopes within the spindle i 26. This distance may be an inch more or less as conditions may`demand, and the slight difference in the thickness of closet doors and ordinary doors is thus easily taken care of. The lug 26b on the spindle 26 always forms an interlock between the spindles 26 and 10, and it, therefore, makes no difference whether the escutcheon plate and spindle 26 are moved inwardly or outwardly on the spindle member 10 when fitting a door.

It might be stated that the closet door latch consists of three units, to wit, the latching unit A, the latch actuating unit B, and the escutcheon plate unit which carries the spindle member 26b and the auxiliary knob 25.

The latch constructed in the manner here disclosed may be readily and quickly installed, it is ycheap to manufacture, it may be fitted to doors of varying thickness, it does away with the ordinary inside knob thereby reducing the cost ofmanufacture, it reduces the amount of space occupied in shallowv closets and the provision of the emergency knob provides exits from the closets in emergency cases if the door should be accidentally closed.

While certain features of the present invention have been more or less specifically illustrated and described it is to be understood that various changes may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims. I also wish it understood that the materials and finish of the several parts employed may be such as the experience and judgment of the manufacturer may dictate or various uses may demand.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent l. In a latch of the character described the combination with the latch actuating unit and the clamping plate cooperating therewith, of an inner and an outer spindle in the latch actuating unit, a third spindle carried by the clamping platel and telescoping with relation to the inner spindle, and interlocking means connecting the inner spindle' andthe third spindle whereby turning movement of thethird spindle will be transmitted to turn th inner spindle.

In a latch -of the character described the combinationy with the latch actuating unit the clamping plate cooperating therewith, of an inner and an outer spindle in the latch actuating unit, a third spindle carried by the clamping plate and telescoping with relation to the inner spindle so as to permit longitudinal adjustment of the two spindles, said inner spindle having a key-way formed therein, and a key member on the third spindle' projecting into the key-way whereby turning movement of the thirdA spindle will be transmitted to turn the inner spindle.

3. In a door having a hole bored through its opposite faces, a lock housing insertible in the hole through one face, means on the housing engaging said face and limiting inward movement of the housing, a clamping plate adapted to engage the opposite face of the door, means for securing the lock housing with relation to said plate, a spindle journaled in the housing and a second spindle journaled in the clamping plate and adapted to telescope with relation to the first named spindle, and means forming an interlock between the two spindles whereby turning movement of the second named spindle will be transmitted to the first named spindle.

4. In a latch of the character described, a housing, a tubular spindle ,.journaled therein, said spindle having a longitudinally eX- tending slot formed therein, a latch actuated by the spindle, a second spindle telescoping with relation to the kfirst named spindle and longitudinally adjustable with relation thereto, a key member on the second named spindle and extending into the slot formed in the first named spindle, wherebyv when the second named spindle is turned, movement will be transmitted to turn the first named spindle, and an emergency knob secured to the second named spindle. ,1

5. yIn a latch of the character described, a

housing, a spindle journalcd therein, a latch actuated by the spindle, a clamping platecooperating with the lock housing, a second spindle journaled in the clamping plate and telescoping with relation to the first named spindle, a knob on the second named spindle, said first named spindle having a key-Way formed therein and extending longitudinally thereof andakey member on the second named Vspindle engageable with the key-way to transmit rotary movement to the rst named spindle when the second named spindle is rotated by means of its knob. 6. In a latch mechanism of thecharacter described, a clamping plate having a central opening formed therein and anannular projecting fiange which forms a bearing, a spindle supported in the bearing, an annular fiange on the spindle and engageable with one end of the bearing and securing the spindle against endwisemovement in one direction, and a knob secured on the opposite end of the spindle and securing the spindle against endwise movement in the opposite direction. 7 In a'latch of the character described a lee los

housing, a spindle journalled in one end of the housing, a latch actuated by the spindle, a second spindle journalled in the same end of the housing and telescoping With relation 5 to the first-named spindle, said second named spindle being also longitudinally adjustable with relation to the first-named spindle, an emergency knob carried by said sec-- ond named spindle and means whereby turning movement of the emergency knob and the second named spindle is transmitted to rotate the first named spindle.

WALTER R. SCHLAGE. 

